Metals Stocks: Gold edges higher as Turkey turmoil fades

A respite for the hard-hit Turkish lira was accompanied by a small gain for gold futures early Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar gave back some of its recent gains.

December gold futures GCZ8, +0.22% rose $2.90, or 0.2%, to $1,201.80 an ounce, while September silver SIU8, +0.25% was up 4.3 cents, or 0.3%, to $15.025 an ounce.

Gold ended at a roughly 1 1/2-year low and below the psychologically important $1,200 level on Monday as Turkey’s currency crisis saw investors continue to seek safety in the U.S. dollar. The greenback’s strength, meanwhile, trumped the haven appeal of the yellow metal. A stronger dollar can be a negative for commodities priced in the currency, making them more expensive in other currency terms.

“There is a demand for profit-taking in the markets after powerful movements at the end of last week and a very aggressive trading start of the week,” wrote analysts at FxPro, in a Tuesday note.

The bounce appeared fragile, but dips below $1,200 an ounce have previously been met with buyers, particularly in Asia, wrote analysts at Commerzbank.

“ETF investors were still jettisoning their holdings yesterday, however. Gold in euro terms likewise fell sharply yesterday, shedding almost all of its gains from last Thursday and Friday again,” they wrote.

The lira rose against the dollar USDTRY, -5.2668% a day after hitting an all-time low. The respite comes after the currency continued a slide following measures introduced by Turkey’s central bank to boost liquidity but that failed to stem the tide of selling.

Read: Strategists see 4 ways out of Turkey’s currency crisis

Gold’s weakness dragged down other metals on Monday, with platinum dropping to a 10-year low.

In Tuesday action, October platinum PLV8, +0.63% was up $6.10, or 0.8%, to $805.60 an ounce, while September palladium PAU8, +0.37% rose $3.20, or 0.4%, to $884.10 an ounce.